Not Alone
by RebbieChan
Summary: Toph goes to see an old friend after Lin and Suyin's big fight.


Not Alone

Toph stood just outside the air temple island temple, thinking as she always did that it was the stupidest name that Aang could have come up with. She set her feet, seeing if she could sense the Avatar, Katara, or any one of their brats running around nearby. Seeing nothing she cupped her hands and bellowed "Hey! Twinkletoes!"

As if he had been keeping his ears perked for her, in a gust of wind Aang arrived before her. "Toph!" Aang exclaimed, a smile in his voice. "what brings you here?"

She shoved him aside, inviting herself in. "Are miss bossypants and the litter here?" She demanded.

Aang followed her into the main grounds. "Katara's with Kya watching over the South Pole while Sokka has business in the north, and Bumi's at the army base, it's just me and Tenzin." His steps became a little more hesitant, more widespread. After a moment he asked, "is this about him and Lin?"

"No. I can barely stand one of you, I'd rather it's just the two of us. And what about my Lin?" She stopped her forward march with the question, feeling that worry-filled rock in her gut that came whenever their relationship was brought up. Her own experiences with romance didn't help her have anything close to a positive outlook in that regard.

He was going one of those awkward maybe-I-shouldn't-have-brought-this-up dances. "Uh, well, I don't really know. He came back last night upset about something so I assumed…"

Toph frowned and turned away from him. "Sometimes I think she couldn't be more different from me and other times I think she takes after me too much."

"So that's not why you're here?" Aang asked, inching around her.

"No, Lin only wants to talk about work and complain about her sister." She pushed him aside again and started out until they were in an open area. Toph waited until Aang was clear of the temple. "I'm here for my favorite pastime!" She slammed her foot into the earth, rocketing Aang into the air with a stone pillar to the gut.

The avatar recovered quickly and moved on to the defensive. He blocked every aerial shot she threw at him, without much trouble. She smiled, seeing his openings quickly. Toph thrust up her fists, lifting the earth directly under his feet and matching it to the upward and downward motions. She laughed as he stumbled around and fell on his back.

"Some Avatar you are!" She taunted.

Aang returned to his feet and moved on to the offensive. Toph sidestepped the airblasts and shot him in the chest with a rock. He let out a big "Oof!" sound, but came up with an even bigger grin on his face.

The two traded blows until the both of them had worked up a good sweat and a balance and rhythm to their exchanges. Aang could tell she had let off and was going easy on him, partially from the pace and style of her bending but mainly from the lack of bruises he was acquiring.

He circled around her, arms up in preparation of possible new attacks, and she matched him step by step. "How does this whole thing work?" He asked, "Do you wake up in the morning and decide it's a great day to torture me?"

"Please, if I really wanted to torture you your island would crumble into the bay in the aftermath."

Aang chuckled, he didn't doubt it.

Toph frowned and stomped a scattering of stone pillars for Aang to dance around. "No," she said. After a pause, she added. "I'm leaving the city."

"Why?" he asked. Every so often she would take a few days and travel somewhere, but somehow Aang got the feeling that this wasn't that.

"I have to take Suyin to my parents because _unfortunately_ I don't trust that she'd make it there herself." The words jut out of her mouth with a bitter flavor. As she spoke, she punched out a few deliberate sprays of stones from the pile behind her.

"I feel like I'm missing something here," he breathed out, offering the unspoken question. Aang ducked and twirled gracefully as dodged.

"If you're missing anything then you've been missing it for years. I'm a terrible mother." Aang opened his mouth to protest but Toph cut him off. "And don't give me that, you know how many times Lin nearly died when she was little."

"I dropped Bumi out the temple tower when he was three," Aang offered with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure you would have heard Katara yelling at me from your house." He sucked in a lungful of breath and imitated Katara in a higher octave "No more airbending around the kids!"

He deflated, realizing there was more to this than an easy to laugh away flicker of doubt. "What happened?"

Toph's face scrunched up. She turned away from him and sat down. Aang sat crossed legged next to her. "Lin tries too hard to please me, thinks she's following in my footsteps. I don't know that she's thought to live her own life. Su thinks for herself sometimes in a way that I don't even know that the girl actually stops and thinks. She doesn't respect me, not that I ever did with my parents but !" She waved her arms out in front of her in frustration. "I've given them so much space."

Toph silently fumed next to him, throwing out a new piece of it as the words came to her. "They couldn't get along if their lives depended on it!"

"Lin should know better than to let Su under her skin, she's a kid."

"But Suyin will go for the lowest blow and does not know when to let it die."

"The one has a stick up her ass and the other can't use her head for more than half a second at a time."

"Clearly I don't know what I'm doing!"

"All my time spent with them is making sure they don't kill each other!"

"And I am this close!"

Aang listened patiently, letting her get it out. "So you're taking Su to your parents?"

Toph let out a sigh, rubbing her temple. She flipped her hand out and said, "Lin _arrested_ her."

"I'm starting to understand." Aang nodded. "What did she do?"

"I don't know. I didn't read the report," she added with sarcasm. She waved her hand again, slouching against a rock she protruded from the ground. "My second in command saw the report, he only said that she was arrested."

They were silent for a while. Toph couldn't think of anything to say that she hadn't already said one way or another and Aang was collecting his thoughts.

"I don't think you're a bad mother." Aang said quietly. "I think you're doing what you can, I don't know how I would have solved the situation."

"Your kids don't fight in the first place Aang. Or break the law."

"Katara and Sokka used to fight when they were younger too and I think all of us broke the law at least once when we were kids. Look," he continued, "I know that right now it's tough, but in time when they're both a little older things will work themselves out."

Toph let the words sink in. In the end she nodded her head from side to side. "I know. You're lucky you and Katara have each other." She sat up straight again and pulled her knees up. "It's hard to stay calm and to think like that when it's just me."

She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I know." Aang said softly.

Toph rubbed her nose and added. "And if you tell anyone, you're dead, got it?"

Aang smiled. "Got it," he said and rested his head against hers.


End file.
